“Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani now ranks as the 48th largest law firm in the United States per Law360 in its annual rankings of the 400 largest law firms in the nation. The firm attained this distinction by moving up five spots from the prior year’s rankings and 23 positions from the 2015 list, and currently comprises some 733 attorneys and 304 partners throughout the U.S.

“This distinction represents an important milestone for the firm,” commented Firmwide Managing Partner Dion N. Cominos. “We continue to have good fortune in growing our platform with outstanding lawyers; most importantly, however, the growth has not occurred for its own sake but instead to allow us to best service our clients on a national stage.”

During the last three years, the firm has expanded its U.S. headcount by more than 26 percent and, since 2000, Gordon & Rees has added more than 30 new offices, and now has a major outpost in eight of the 10 largest cities in the United States. In 2017 alone, the firm has opened five new offices: Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Gordon & Rees is a national litigation and business transactions firm with more than 700 lawyers in 43 offices across the United States. Our lawyers provide full service representation to public and private companies ranging from the Fortune 500 to start-ups. Founded in 1974, Gordon & Rees is recognized among the fastest growing and largest law firms in the country and continues to climb the ranks of both The Am Law 200 and The National Law Journal.”

I am a member of the Health Law Section’s Legislative Committee, along with attorneys Shawn Parker, and Scott Templeton. Together we drafted summaries of all the potential House and Senate Bills that have passed one house (crossed over) and have potential of becoming laws. We published it on the NC Bar Association Blog. I figured my readers would benefit from the Bill summaries as well. Please see below blog.

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On behalf of the North Carolina Bar Association Health Law Section’s Legislative Committee, we are providing the following 2017 post-crossover legislative update.

The North Carolina General Assembly has been considering a substantial number of bills of potential relevance to health law practitioners this session. The Health Law Section’s Legislative Committee, with the help of NCBA staff, has been monitoring these bills on virtually a daily basis.

The General Assembly’s rules provide for a “crossover date” during the legislative session, which this year was April 27. The importance of that date is essentially that, with certain caveats, unless a bill has passed one chamber (House or Senate) by the crossover date, the bill will no longer be considered by the legislature. The following listing provides brief descriptions of current proposed legislation, in two categories.

The first category includes bills that passed either the House or Senate by the crossover date, and therefore remain in consideration by the legislature. The second category includes bills that did not pass either chamber before the crossover date, but because the bills contain an appropriation or fee provisions, they may continue to be considered pursuant to legislative rules.

In addition to the bills listed below, a number of bills did not make crossover and do not meet an exception to the crossover rule, and are likely “dead” for this legislative session. We recognize, however, that the legislature is capable of “reviving” legislation by various mechanisms. The Legislative Committee continues to monitor legislation during the session, and in addition to this update, we may provide further updates as appropriate, and also anticipate doing a final summary once the legislature has adjourned later this year.

Bills That Passed One Chamber by the Crossover Date.

House Bills

HB 57: Enact Physical Therapy Licensure Compact

Makes North Carolina a member of the Physical Therapy Licensure Compact, upon the 10th member state to enact the compact. Membership in the compact would allow physical therapists who hold licenses in good standing in any other compact state to practice physical therapy in North Carolina. Likewise, physical therapists holding a valid license in North Carolina would be able to practice physical therapy in any of other the compact member states.

HB 140: Dental Plans Provider Contracts/Transparency

Provides that insurance companies that offer stand-alone dental insurance are subject to the disclosure and notification provisions of G.S. 58-3-227.

HB 156: Eyeglasses Exemption from Medicaid Capitation

Adds the fabrication of eyeglasses to the list of services that are not included as part of transitioning the State Medicaid program to a capitated system.

HB 199: Establish Standards for Surgical Technology

Creates standards for surgical technology care in hospitals and ambulatory surgical facilities, specifically prohibiting employing or contracting with a surgical technologist unless that technologist produces one of four enumerated qualifications.

HB 206: N.C. Cancer Treatment Fairness

Requires insurance coverage parity so orally administered anti-cancer drugs are covered on a basis no less favorable than intravenously administered or injected anti-cancer drugs.

HB 208 : Occupational Therapy Choice of Provider

Adds licensed occupational therapists to the list of providers for whom insurers are required to pay for services rendered, regardless of limitations to access of such providers within the insurance contract.

HB 243: Strengthen Opioid Misuse Prevention (STOP) Act

Requires, among other things, practitioners to review information in the state-controlled substance reporting system prior to prescribing certain targeted controlled substance and limits the length of supply that a targeted controlled substance may be prescribed for acute pain relief.

HB 258: Amend Medical Malpractice Health Care Provider Definition

Includes paramedics, as defined in G.S. 131E-155, within the definition of health care provider for the purposes of medical malpractice actions.

HB 283: Telehealth Fairness Act

Requires health benefit plans to provide coverage for health care services that are provided via telemedicine as if the service were provided in person.

Requires Local Management Entities/Managed Care Organizations (LME/MCOs) to use a state-designated standardized format for submitting encounter data, clarifies that the data submitted may be used by DHHS to, among other authorized purposes, set capitation rates. Also modifies multiple statutory requirements and references related to LME/MCOs. Limits the LME/MCOs’ use of funds to their functions and responsibilities under Chapter 122C. Also limits the salary of an area director unless certain criteria are met.

HB 425: Improve Utilization of MH Professionals

Allows licensed clinical addiction specialists to own or have ownership interest in a North Carolina professional corporation that provides psychotherapeutic services. Allows licensed professional counselors or licensed marriage and family therapist to conduct initial examinations for involuntary commitment process when requested by the LME and approved by DHHS.

HB 550: Establish New Nurse Licensure Compact

Repeals the current nurse licensure compact codified at G.S. 90-171.80 – 171.94 and codifies a substantially similar compact, which North Carolina will join upon adoption by the 26thstate, allowing nurses to have one multi-state license, with the ability to practice in both their home state and other compact states.

HB 631: Reduce Admin. Duplication MH/DD/SAS Providers

Directs DHHS to establish a work group to examine and make recommendations to eliminate administrative duplication of requirements affecting healthcare providers.

Senate Bills

SB 42: Reduce Cost and Regulatory Burden/Hospital Construction

Directs the N.C. Medical Care Commission to adopt the American Society of Healthcare Engineers Facility Guidelines for physical plant and construction requirements for hospital facilities and to repeal the current set of rules pertaining to such requirements under the current hospital facilities rules within the North Carolina Administrative Code.

Creates the North Carolina Medical Cannabis Act. Among many other provisions, it provides that physicians would not be subject to arrest, prosecution or penalty for recommending the medical use of cannabis or providing written certification for the medical use of cannabis pursuant to the provision of the newly created article.

Repeals the legislative restriction on expanding the state’s Medicaid eligibility and directs DHHS to provide Medicaid coverage to all people under age 65 with incomes equal to or less than 133 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. Appropriates funds and directs the reduction of certain recurring funds to implement the act. Additionally the bill creates and imposes an assessment on each hospital that is not fully exempt from both the current equity and upper payment limit assessments imposed by state law.

HB 887: Health Insurance Mandates Study/Funds

Appropriates $200,000 to fund consultant services to assist the newly established Legislative Research Commission committee on state mandatory health insurance coverage requirements.

HB 902: Enhance Patient Safety in Radiological Imaging.

Creates a new occupational licensure board to regulate the practice of radiologic imaging and radiation therapy procedures by Radiologic Technologists and Radiation Therapists.

Repeals the legislative restriction on expanding the state’s Medicaid eligibility and directs DHHS to provide Medicaid coverage to all people under age 65 with incomes equal to or less than 133 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. Appropriates funds, directs the reduction of certain recurring funds to implement the Act. Additionally the bill creates and imposes an assessment on each hospital that is not fully exempt from both the current equity and upper payment limit assessments imposed state law.

SB 579: The Catherine A. Zanga Medical Marijuana Bill

Creates the North Carolina Medical Cannabis Act. Among many other provisions, it provides that physicians would not be subject to arrest, prosecution or penalty for recommending the medical use of cannabis or providing written certification for the medical use of cannabis pursuant to the provision of the newly created article.

SB 648: Legalize Medical Marijuana

Creates the North Carolina Medical Cannabis Act. Among many other provisions, it provides that physicians would not be subject to arrest, prosecution or penalty for recommending the medical use of cannabis or providing written certification for the medical use of cannabis pursuant to the provision of the newly created article.

Please contact a member of the Health Law Section’s Legislative Committee should you have any questions regarding this report. The Committee’s members are Knicole Emanuel, Shawn Parker, and Scott Templeton (chair).

I am extremely excited to announce that our Gordon & Rees Raleigh health care team just keeps growing!! Remember, this is just the Raleigh health care team…firm wide, we are a health care team of 40-50 attorneys. Now that is a bench as deep as NCSU, UNC, and Duke’s basketball teams put together!

Robin was a partner at Smith Anderson for over two decades. In 2011, Robin was named Managing Partner of the Raleigh office of Nexsen Pruet, where the oversaw the growth of that office from 5 to 23 lawyers in less than two years. In January of 2013, Robin joined forces with his life-long friend, Paul C. Creech, Esq., to form a boutique health care law and litigation firm until Paul retired in 2015 due to medical reasons. Robin now joins us with renewed entrepreneurial spirit and vigor to make this Raleigh office of Gordon Rees a very special place to practice law and service clients.

Robin began his practice in health care litigation and morphed into a health care transactional attorney. He has bought and sold more physicians’ practices than Imelda Marco had shoes. He has created affordable care organizations (ACOs), has written physician policy manuals, and dealt with antitrust issues and e-discovery issues, including electronic medical records issues. When it comes to health care law, he is the Christopher Michael Langan without the sub-par childhood.

Personally, I have never had a mentor in the health care industry, and I believe that he can learn me a thing or two.

Robert transitioned to GR with me from Williams Mullen. He is absolutely brilliant with an analytical mind, which probably stems from his tax law background. Yes, he can answer tax questions for health care providers as well!

His expertise in numbers makes him exceptionally well-suited to argue against extrapolations, as he actually understands that independent variables are just variables that have become teenagers and want out of the house.

DeeDee comes to us from Williams Mullen, as well. Prior to WM, DeeDee worked as a senior consultant for more than six years at Ascendient Healthcare Advisors. DeeDee is also a smarty pants…she earned a Master of Public Health degree from the UNC School of Public Health as well as a J.D. from the UNC School of Law. You can’t have too many acronyms, right? She also has expertise in CON law.

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That is our Raleigh health care team. Like I said, we have a wealth of knowledge nationwide with our healthcare team, and I would be remiss if I excluded a few of our super stars.

Our team is led by the brilliant Thomas Quinn out of the Denver office.

We also have a partner who is a registered nurse (RN), Linda Mullany, from the San Diego office.

And these are only a few attorneys that comprise our nationwide, talented health care team So, as you can see, I joined a rock star law firm with almost 700 attorneys in 35 offices nationwide. Gordon & Rees boasts the following statistics:

We also ranked in the top 100 law firms for female attorneys, a ranking that I am especially proud of (sorry for ending a sentence with a preposition, but writing “of which I am especially proud” seemed way too pomp and circumstance).

I will make every effort going forward to NOT write blogs about how awesome my law firm is, but I had to just write one. So, please forgive me on this unabashed, shameless, self-serving blog. It will not happen again (I hope).

Look forward to my next blog…Administrative costs of the MCOs and our tax dollars hard at work.

And here is the legal disclaimer:

Legal Disclaimer and Note: I welcome your feedback, thoughts, questions, and suggestions. Just a reminder: These materials have been prepared by me for informational purposes only and are not legal advice. Internet followers and online readers should not act upon this information without seeking independent legal counsel.

This information is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. Please note that an attorney-client relationship, and corresponding confidentiality of information, does not arise until Gordon & Rees has received an executed legal service agreement. Do not send us confidential information until you speak with one of our attorneys and get authorization to send that information to us. Gordon & Rees is pleased to receive inquiries from prospective clients regarding its services and its lawyers. However, an inquiry to Gordon & Rees should not disclose information about a particular matter prompting the inquiry.

While I try to update this site on a regular basis, I do not intend any information on this site to be treated or considered as the most current expression of the law on any given point, and certain legal positions expressed on this site, by passage of time or otherwise, may be superseded or incorrect. Readers should not consider the information provided to be an invitation for an attorney-client relationship, and should always seek the advice of independent legal counsel in the reader’s home jurisdiction.

The opinions expressed on this site are the opinions of the user, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of Gordon & Rees.

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Knicole C. Emanuel

Knicole C. Emanuel is an attorney at Potomac Law Group in Raleigh, NC where she concentrates on Medicare and Medicaid regulatory compliance litigation. See legal disclaimer @ "About Knicole."
Follow her on Twitter at @medicaidlawnc.